Tasty as this dish is, the photos weren't doing it justice so you'll have to bear with me old school style. And don't worry, I haven't gone fully vegetarian on you, it's just the new things I'm working on in the kitchen don't happen to have any meat at the moment.
Anyway, earlier in the week my daughter asked if we could center a meal on barley. Surprised as I was I quickly agreed and, given my love for risotto of all kinds and for tweaking it with grains and seeds other than arborio rice I thought I'd give this a go. The main procedural difference between barley and traditional risotto is that since it's more robust it needs a spell up front being simmered with the cover on. Then you can uncover it and add stock 1-2 cups at a time as with regular risotto.
Ingredients:
Anyway, earlier in the week my daughter asked if we could center a meal on barley. Surprised as I was I quickly agreed and, given my love for risotto of all kinds and for tweaking it with grains and seeds other than arborio rice I thought I'd give this a go. The main procedural difference between barley and traditional risotto is that since it's more robust it needs a spell up front being simmered with the cover on. Then you can uncover it and add stock 1-2 cups at a time as with regular risotto.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups pearled barley
- 1 1/2 quarts stock (I used mushroom stock mostly plus some chicken I had in the fridge)
- 1/4-1/2 cup white cooking wine
- 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
- olive oil, salt and pepper
- 8 oz goat cheese (I crumbled 4 oz of plain and held a log of honey chevre as you'll see below)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2-3 shallots, sliced finely
- 1/4 red onion, diced
- Saute the mushrooms over medium high heat until you've fully cooked the liquid out of them and they brown nicely. Set aside.
- In a 4-6 quart sauce pan or stock pot heat some more olive oil over medium heat. Saute the garlic, shallots and onions until nicely browned, 8-10 minutes. Add the barley and saute for another 4-5 minutes to begin browning it. Add the wine and 3 cups of stock, stir well, reduce heat to low-medium and cover for 10-15 minutes.
- Uncover, add another cup to 1 1/2 cups of stock and stir periodically, adding more stock as it's absorbed. I ended up cooking it for 30-35 minutes.
- Once it's still al dente but tender enough to eat, remove from heat and let sit for a few minutes.
- Fold in the mushrooms and then, at the end, the goat cheese crumbles. Top each serving with a couple of medallions of honey chevre--the sweet really compliments the savory and tangy of the dish nicely.